Could the average Reception age child read this passage?

[Avocadoes]

"I want to go to Lily's party. I will go on the bus, then I will walk. There will be cake and lots of fun. Do you want to come too?"

My DD is nearly 4 and a half and her reading has just been assessed (by school) using the passage above.

I am just interested in whether most Reception kids would be able to read all the words in that passage and do so without halting to figure out each individual word.

[coldtits]

I just totally underestimated my son, how bad do I feel?

[systemsaddict]

Don't think ds would be able to read all of that - I'd be surprised - he's 4 1/3 and in the top group for reading and writing in his class.

[ChippingInSmellyCheeseFreak]

Lots of people are saying yes, but then saying it would need to be read one word at a time or by sounding it out - which isn't what you asked - so it's a NO.

I don't think many reception aged children could read that, without halting to do the 'harder' words and not till closer to the end of the year. Of course some will, but they'll be the 'odd one' not the norm.

[ChippingInSmellyCheeseFreak]

coldtits - they all sneak up on you with what they can do when they want to!!

[looblylu]

DD could read it but would stumble on a few words (walk and possibly cake)

[ImFab]

Mine would have been able too.

[misskeith]

No way, mine is 5.2. would sound out slowly and manage a few of them. And I am not remotely concerned about him.

[PatriciaHolm]

DS no way, DD probably would have got most of it.

[Avocadoes]

Thanks everyone.

I think DD's reception teacher has quite high expectations of the children. DD1 read the passage very slowly and haltingly but managed all the words except Lily's, party and cake. Her teacher then wrote: "DD is beginning to grap the basics of reading. She reads very slowly and is yet to see the meaning of a sentence because she has to concentrate on each word."

I am probably being paranoid but I read that assessment as slightly negative which is what lead me to want to check how similar aged children would have performed. I am not meaning to sound competitive as I really am not concerned about DD's rank in the class etc, I think the assessment just surprised me.

[Malaleuca]

Such a pointless assessment - nothing transparent about it at all. An assessment should tell you what a child can do, not what he can't do, and this passage would give little information about the type of text/code the child can handle.

[evolucy7]

My 4 year old would be able read it apart from maybe 'Lily's' I don't know if she has ever come across the name, but she may be able to work it out.

[SummerRain]

dd wouldn't have, at all. She's a year on now and still would struggle with it.

ds1 would probably get it easily enough though.

I disagree with the teacher on this though: 'is yet to see the meaning of a sentence because she has to concentrate on each word'

dd is a terrible reader, very slow and halting, but if you quiz her afterward she's absorbed everything she read and can discuss it easily.

It depends on the child in question.

[coccyx]

My DD has just read it (4.6) but needed to sound out the words like cake.
I doubbt many reception year children could read it fluently. Why are you worried?

[CatIsSleepy]

dd1 wouldn't be able to read most of those words

maybe I, to, bus, fun, go, with a lot of prompting from me

mind you I have no idea what she's like with her teacher

One of her friends however who is the same age would rattle through it no problem. But has been reading for a while now and is pretty advanced I think.

[goingmadinthecountry]

Seeker already made the comment that immediately came to my mind!

[evolucy7]

Malaleuca...why is it a pointless assessment? Many of the words are High Frequency Words that children have to learn at school, they are High Frequency Words as they are crucial for reading due to their frequency in the English Language. The other words such as 'cake' could be there to test comprehension as if a child has read 'party' then they could use decoding skills for the word beginning with 'c' that you may have at a party. Also 'bus' and 'walk', if a child knows 'bus' the sentence is saying that the 'walk' is an alternative to 'bus' so can the child understand this concept. Early reading is very much about HF Words and using skills of understanding the context, and working out words using phonics.
By the way OP were there any pictures for this assessment do you know or just the text?

[Michaelahpurple]

At least half of my DS2's class wouldn't be able to read that fluently.

[purpleturtle]

DS2 wouldn't know where to start. He's August-born in Reception.

He's not at all average though.

[boolifooli]

Ds definitely COULDN'T. August born mind.

[crazygracieuk]

No

At the end of Reception- maybe.

[electra]

Gosh, what kind of a school is it? High expectations indeed. My dd used to read the Jelly and Bean series when she was in reception - stuff like 'a cat and a dog on a log'! And she goes to a prep school.

I don't think early readers are necessarily more intelligent than others tbh - they all begin to level out by the age of 7ish.

[Malaleuca]

The selection of hf words is random. As I understand UK literacy strategy (may be wrong here, not in UK)is Letters and Sounds so Year R children have not been taught all the letter/sound correspsondences in this passage, so why test children on stuff they have not learnt?

[Chaotica]

No - DD might manage a lot of it, but she's probably one of the best readers in her reception class. I doubt she'd manage it all though.